I was so astonished by Dennis Kucinich's hysterical diatribe in The Plain Dealer's March 1 Forum section that I read it three times to make sure my eyes hadn't deceived me.
What a load of undiluted garbage.
I can write off his inane criticism of Republicans as the usual Democrat invective. But most of the insinuations he makes regarding what Congress has not authorized are wild and irresponsible exaggerations, and the rest are outright lies. Osama bin Laden couldn't have written it any better.
What is the matter with Kucinich? Our government has an obligation to defend this country. Apparently, he thinks that if we cease military action and all don our love beads, hold hands, and sing smarmy songs, the bad men won't bother us anymore. Doesn't he realize that if we were to follow his moonbeam philosophy, terrorists would attack again? Or is it that he just doesn't care if they do?
After Kucinich reads the inevitable criticism of his delusions (i.e., by passing HR 3616, he and his fellow appeasers hope to create "a universe free from fear"), I hope that he at least has the integrity not to play the victim card and whine about how people are trying to silence him. Just as he has every right to spew his idiotic nonsense, we have every right to denounce it.
Dennis, I'm sure terrorists everywhere thank you for your support.
Marty Stevenson
Strongsville
Thank you, Plain Dealer, for making sure all of Cleve land sees what kind of
person is representing them in Congress. I think that all the people who voted
for Dennis Kucinich should read his "Prayer for America" before they vote for
him again.
This "prayer" must be a joke. No wonder he gave his speech in California. If he
really feels like he does in this article, why doesn't he (and Stephanie Tubbs
Jones, for that matter) organize an anti-war, anti-military rally downtown and
see how many people show up? I'll bet he couldn't get 200.
Kucinich is more worried about the rights of the Taliban and al-Qaida members in Guantanamo than he is about our troops defending freedom overseas. Anyone who has sons or daughters in the military should be appalled.
It is about time we had a president who is trying to stop these kinds of attacks before they happen, instead of doing nothing (Bill Clinton). And George W Bush was not elected? Get over it, Dennis. I cringe when I think of how Al Gore would have handled 9/11.
If Kucinich were as smart as he thinks he is, he would be grateful that we have a president who is unafraid to go on the offensive for a change, regardless of whether we hurt someone's feelings. I believe most Americans support the president trying to stop terrorism and governments that support terrorism.
There are so many unbelievably stupid statements in Kucinich's "prayer." I
have never read an article in which just about every sentence is so blatantly
anti-American as Kucinich's. Kucinich should be impeached.
Stephen Razayeski
Streetsboro
Dennis Kucinich makes an eloquent plea for peace. It sounds good - until you start to think about it.
The United States did not initiate the attacks of Sept. 11. Whatever wrong-headed policies the country has pursued, driving civilian airplanes into civilian buildings is not one of them. The first job of government is to protect its citizens and make certain that ordinary people can go about their lives without fear. One could argue that this is the best way to ensure peace.
Kucinich makes a series of claims that do not hold up on closer scrutiny. The government has not canceled the Sixth Amendment protection for prompt and public trial for ordinary people - only for that handful of individuals who, we have reason to believe, may have been involved in crimes against our people on Sept. 11.
Contrary to Kucinich's claim that the United States has withdrawn from the Geneva Convention, the Bush administration modified its stand on trying terrorists so it conformed with the Geneva accords.
The United States has not authorized an invasion of North Korea. Bush only called North Korea a part of the axis of evil - an honest statement that spoke a truth many have known but few politicians were willing to utter publicly. Bush's statements in Asia show he continues to be willing to negotiate with the North Korean government to promote peace.
Tragically, we and our children must live in a world populated with
individuals who lack a fundamental respect for life - young terrorists whose
words and deeds suggest they would use nuclear weapons in ways that no civilized
people have contemplated before. Kucinich would have us fight these people with
the rules of civilized society. But when our enemies do not live by the rules of
civilization, we are forced to confront them in other - less noble, but
tragically necessary - ways.
We have a duty to be fair and just to the overwhelming majority of humankind - but not to those who lack a sense of justice or a fundamental respect for civilization or human life.
Kucinich is a compassionate, honorable man. His ideas sharpen our discourse.
But by failing to appreciate the new context in which we must all live and
neglecting to offer concrete prescriptions for the problems he so insightfully
identifies, he fails in his attempt to offer a remedy to the ugly, complex
problems of our time.
Richard M. Perloff
University Heights
The recent Dennis Kucinich speech brings to mind Winston Churchill's description of Neville Chamberlain as ". . . a sheep in sheep's clothing." Evidently, Congressman Kucinich has not read much world history or paid much attention to even current events. We are at war, and it didn't start on Sept. 11.
The Marines slaughtered with a truck bomb in Lebanon, the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing, a plot to assassinate former President George Bush in Kuwait and
the attacks on the USS Cole and the two U.S. embassies in Africa are just the
tip of the iceberg. We have word from France of aborted attempts to blow up the
Eiffel Tower, the U.S. embassy, and don't forget the infamous "shoe bomber"
stopped by brave passengers and crew from perpetrating another disaster. Our own
border guards, FBI and CIA have short-circuited terrorist attacks such as the
"millennium" plot to blow up the Los Angeles airport.
Does Kucinich doubt that the terrorists would use biological or nuclear weapons
if they had access to them? If one can justify smashing fuel-laden jets into
crowded office buildings, where is the moral imperative to prevent a suitcase
nuclear device from being detonated in the heart of a crowded city?
Kucinich and his cronies believe war can be outlawed through legislation and
negotiation. History shows us that peace treaties and disarmament agreements are
mere "scraps of paper" (Hitler's words) to tyrants and dictators.
The best way to work for peace is to prepare for war. The Soviet Union didn't
fall because of 1960s flower children, it was the cold warriors of both
political parties - Truman, Ike, JFK, Reagan, Bush I and even the flawed Nixon
and Johnson - who drew the line in the sand and saved first Europe and then
other parts of the world from falling to the authoritarian monster of communism.
It's ironic that Kucinich would deny free-speech rights to political groups
as diverse as the NRA and the Sierra Club through campaign finance reform, but
whimpers about terrorist cells and sympathizers having their civil liberties
curtailed. Kucinich's heart bleeds for the al-Qaida terrorists incarcerated in
Cuba and the various quislings here in the United States, but when the next
attack comes, the blood will be on his hands and those of the peace-at-any-price
crowd who retard our efforts at security.
Paul King
Perry